The UK is likely to make a cut this week; Trump has made it very clear he wants his central bank to follow suit

The Bank of England is preparing to announce a cut in UK interest rates on Thursday, with central banks around the world facing increased scrutiny as Donald Trump ramps up his attacks on the US Federal Reserve.

Trump wants lower borrowing costs to boost the economy, even though the US has maintained the highest rate of growth in the G7 richest nations for several years and has every prospect of topping the G7 poll in 2025.

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© Photograph: Benjamin Cremel/AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Benjamin Cremel/AFP/Getty Images

Rachel Reeves is all for growth; her party and the country needs it. But still we hear nothing about the most obvious solution…

In 1935, Sinclair Lewis wrote a satirical book, It Can’t Happen Here, about a lying demagogue, Buzz Windrip, who rises to power and transforms the American scene for the worse within months.

There were fears of parallels with the plot of the book when Trump first became president. This time, the fears are far more serious, as Trump’s barrage of executive orders challenges the constitutional checks and balances designed by the founding fathers to inhibit the autocratic desires of a future wrong’un becoming president.

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© Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Rachel Reeves’ bold infrastructure plans for Heathrow, transport, housing and more rely on training a new generation of construction professionals before the shovels go in the ground

Even a nonexistent Heathrow third runway or HS2 northern leg have arguably done their bit for the economy: keeping a small army of planners, lawyers and lobbyists busy over years of tussle between the “builders and the blockers”, as Rachel Reeves has styled them.

Now the blockers are, as the chancellor made clear in laying out her vision for turbocharged infrastructure growth, as welcome as rare bats or newts at a construction site. But are the builders ready to take their turn?

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© Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

The chancellor’s apparent volte-face in backing a third runway has left many in her party disillusioned and led them to label it as an act of desperation

In 2020, Rachel Reeves, the MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, was clear why she opposed expansion of nearby Leeds Bradford airport. It would, she said, “significantly increase air and noise pollution”, so on environmental grounds, it should not happen.

By the autumn of 2021, as shadow chancellor, Reeves was the senior Labour figure chosen to lead her party’s hugely ambitious plans for a green industrial revolution.

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© Photograph: Avpics/Alamy

Economists fear full-on, tit-for-tat trade war as US also imposes tariffs on Mexico and China

Mark Carney, the favourite to replace Justin Trudeau as the Canadian prime minister, has vowed that his country is “going to stand up to a bully” after Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on goods coming in from Canada.

There are now 25% tariffs on goods coming into the US from Canada and Mexico, while China is being hit with tariffs of 10% on imported goods, leading some economists to fear the outbreak of a full-on, tit-for-tat trade war.

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

As the US president imposes import taxes on three key trading partners, we examine potential repercussions

Donald Trump has vowed to impose sweeping tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China.

There will be 25% tariffs on goods coming into the US from Canada and Mexico, and 10% on imports from China from this weekend.

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© Photograph: Gripas Yuri/ABACA/REX/Shutterstock

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© Photograph: Gripas Yuri/ABACA/REX/Shutterstock

While much about the threatened tariffs is still unclear, experts predict they would be bad news for all three economies, with few winners.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

In her big plan to get the economy growing again the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has prioritised growth over almost everything else. But at what cost? John Harris speaks to the Labour MP Clive Lewis about concerns that climate action is taking a back seat. Plus, the columnist Gaby Hinsliff talks us through whether the party’s quest for growth will work

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© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images